diff --git a/lib/handshake.c b/lib/handshake.c
index 50138dd8..bfcad656 100644
--- a/lib/handshake.c
+++ b/lib/handshake.c
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 		for (n = 0; n < len; n++)
 			if (libwebsocket_parse(wsi, *buf++)) {
 				lwsl_info("libwebsocket_parse failed\n");
-				goto bail;
+				goto bail_nuke_ah;
 			}
 
 		if (wsi->u.hdr.parser_state != WSI_PARSING_COMPLETE)
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 
 		lwsl_parser("libwebsocket_parse sees parsing complete\n");
 
+		wsi->mode = LWS_CONNMODE_PRE_WS_SERVING_ACCEPT;
+
 		/* is this websocket protocol or normal http 1.0? */
 
 		if (!lws_hdr_total_length(wsi, WSI_TOKEN_UPGRADE) ||
@@ -113,21 +115,14 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 
 			if (!lws_hdr_total_length(wsi, WSI_TOKEN_GET_URI)) {
 				lwsl_warn("Missing URI in HTTP request\n");
-				/* drop the header info */
-				if (wsi->u.hdr.ah)
-					free(wsi->u.hdr.ah);
-				goto bail;
+				goto bail_nuke_ah;
 			}
 
 			lwsl_info("HTTP request for '%s'\n",
 				lws_hdr_simple_ptr(wsi, WSI_TOKEN_GET_URI));
 
-			if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi)) {
-				/* drop the header info */
-				if (wsi->u.hdr.ah)
-					free(wsi->u.hdr.ah);
-				goto bail;
-			}
+			if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi))
+				goto bail_nuke_ah;
 
 			/*
 			 * Hm we still need the headers so the
@@ -143,6 +138,7 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 			/* union transition */
 			memset(&wsi->u, 0, sizeof(wsi->u));
 
+			wsi->mode = LWS_CONNMODE_HTTP_SERVING;
 			wsi->state = WSI_STATE_HTTP;
 			n = 0;
 			if (wsi->protocol->callback)
@@ -196,7 +192,7 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 			} else {
 				lwsl_err("Req protocol %s not supported\n",
 				   lws_hdr_simple_ptr(wsi, WSI_TOKEN_PROTOCOL));
-				goto bail;
+				goto bail_nuke_ah;
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -299,6 +295,11 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 
 	return 0;
 
+bail_nuke_ah:
+	/* drop the header info */
+	if (wsi->u.hdr.ah)
+		free(wsi->u.hdr.ah);
+
 bail:
 	lwsl_info("closing connection at libwebsocket_read bail:\n");
 
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.c b/lib/libwebsockets.c
index 0c85f0af..c3615279 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.c
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.c
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ libwebsocket_close_and_free_session(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 	wsi->u.ws.close_reason = reason;
 
 	if (wsi->mode == LWS_CONNMODE_HTTP_SERVING && wsi->u.http.fd) {
+		lwsl_notice("closing http fd %d\n", wsi->u.http.fd);
 		close(wsi->u.http.fd);
 		wsi->u.http.fd = 0;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/private-libwebsockets.h b/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
index f1ff5c8e..eecdd3d1 100644
--- a/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
+++ b/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@ enum lws_rx_parse_state {
 
 enum connection_mode {
 	LWS_CONNMODE_HTTP_SERVING,
+	LWS_CONNMODE_PRE_WS_SERVING_ACCEPT,
 
 	LWS_CONNMODE_WS_SERVING,
 	LWS_CONNMODE_WS_CLIENT,